Regan Ford read up on the candidates before casting her vote at Auburn’s Clarion Inn on Tuesday morning. In the end, she did what many other voters there and around the River Region did: Vote straight ticket.

“I did study up and read about who was running,” said Ford, a sales representative who voted the Democratic ticket. “But on most of the big-ticket items, the big issues like gun control and abortion, I lean left on those topics.”

It was a story repeated in interviews with about three dozen people in and around Montgomery and the River Region, where — with a handful of exceptions — most voters decided to go with a party over an individual candidate, citing their feelings for or against the current political climate.

“I’m a Trump man all the way,” said Abner Straughn of Prattville, who voted straight ticket Republican on Tuesday morning. “I’m a conservative and I voted for him two years ago. I think he’s doing a great job. I voted for people that will help Trump keep doing what he is doing.”

For Sara Campbell of Montgomery, who cast a ballot for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Walt Maddox, the choice “was more a vote for Democrats than anything else.”

“The issue for me is, nationally, where we’re headed,” she said. “I wanted to vote as a statement (about) that, more than anything else.”

The feelings about the current climate fueled what observers think might be the highest-turnout midterm election in 50 years. While final numbers for Alabama won’t be known until Wednesday, there were signs of heightened interest around the area. Long voting lines formed in Montgomery and Autauga counties. In Auburn, some polling stations saw so much traffic that cars backed into roads outside them Tuesday morning.

“It seems to be a huge turnout,” said Sis Davis, who voted straight Republican.

Campaign signs line the sidewalks as large numbers of voters turn out to cast their votes at Huntingdon College Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)(Photo: Butch Dill, AP)

Some voters had their minds on state matters. Speaking outside Dalraida Church of Christ in Montgomery, John Brosch made a long list of discretions by former governors to explain his vote for Gov. Kay Ivey.

“In Alabama, she’s the best governor we’ve had in a long time,” he said, chuckling that she hasn’t gotten anyone pregnant or been taken to prison.

Chip Mullins of Montgomery said voters needed to support “honest officials that will represent us and not their own interests,” and said he supported Ivey.

“She’s consistent, and she’s done a good job,” he said.

Supporters of Maddox, the Tuscaloosa mayor and Democratic nominee, said they wanted to see new blood in state government or approved of his education lottery proposal. Ellen Jenkins of Montgomery said Maddox did good things for education in Tuscaloosa when her daughter went to school there. She also lamented the lack of a state lottery, and Alabamians traveling to states like Georgia and Tennessee, which have lotteries that support schools.

“We are funding their education system,” she said.

John Noll, a retired CPA from Auburn who voted for both Democrats and Republicans, said he voted for Maddox because he wanted to see a new direction in state government.

“I think the government needs a little cleaning up here,” he said. “There’s some dealings going on that we need some fresh blood in there.”

The four constitutional amendments on the ballot were also on voters’ minds, particularly Amendment 2, which would declare Alabama a right-to-life state but which critics contend could open the door to a total ban on the procedure, even in health and sexual assault cases, if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns or guts Roe v. Wade. Joy Schwindling of Montgomery said abortion was the most important issue for her.

“A woman should be more responsible with her body and not get pregnant in the first place,” she said.

But the measure also drew opponents like Kim Wilson of Montgomery, who called it “another way to erode women’s rights.” Ford, the sales rep from Auburn, also voted against it.

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Voters line up at the Houston Hills Community Center in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.(Photo: Jake Crandall/ Advertiser)

“I’m pro-choice,” she said. “I’m a female. I want my rights. That’s how I lean on that.”

But others who had an eye on local issues also kept an eye on national ones. Kelly McCoy of Auburn, a home-school teacher who cast a straight Republican ticket, voted for several state candidates who she said were “very pro-insurance for autism.”

“But for the United States, I want to make sure my family values remain intact,” she said.

Willie Patton of Wetumpka voted “straight Democrat because of Donald Trump,” saying he was “tired of the race-baiting, and not just that, but his whole character.”

“I’m just concerned about the health of the nation and the road we’re headed on,” he said. “I just wanted to do what I can to change it.”

This story was reported by Melissa Brown; Brian Edwards; Kirsten Fiscus; Brad Harper; Krista Johnson; Brian Lyman and Marty Roney. It was written by Brian Lyman.